The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has set August 20 as the date for the agency to review a proposal to expand its coverage of PET imaging for oncology indications.
The agency's Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MedCAC) is scheduled to meet to discuss expanding Medicare PET coverage to include nine cancers: brain, cervical, small cell lung, ovarian, pancreatic, testicular, prostate, bladder, and kidney.
The meeting is part of CMS' review of PET coverage, a process that included the establishment of a National Oncology PET Registry (NOPR) to collect data on PET's effectiveness for the new indications. In April, members of the NOPR formally asked CMS to end the data collection period and begin paying for PET for the new clinical indications.
At the meeting, the MedCAC panel will review the scientific evidence of PET's impact on management strategies in patients with the nine cancers and will poll panel members regarding their opinions of PET's value. CMS is also conducting its own technology assessment in addition to reviewing the NOPR data.
Related Reading
NOPR asks CMS to expand FDG-PET coverage, April 11, 2008
NOPR study: PET influences cancer care, March 25, 2008
NOPR releases preliminary results of PET treatment strategies, January 11, 2008
PET changes oncology management, study shows, July 19, 2007
NOPR opens, with modifications, May 9, 2006
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